Rikku really needed to tell someone and hoped her cousin would be her usual understanding self and help her figure things out, even though it was going to be difficult for Rikku to explain. "It all started innocently enough, Yunie, I promise you, when you brought out my cake for my 21st birthday party." she confessed.
"To Rikku!" Tidus raised his glass in a toast as Yuna and Lulu brought her birthday cake out.
"You're an old maid now, cousin!" Yuna teased her as Lulu cast a tiny fire spell to light the twenty-one candles.
"I am not!" Rikku protested. Her birthday party was a blast so far, and she was trying to find out what cocktail was her favorite, but she was only trying one every half hour. She took a deep breath as she thought of what she wanted for her wish, then managed to blow out all the candles to cheers. Eventually Tidus and Yuna said they had to leave and get back to their baby, Wakka and Lulu leaving with them. Soon only her live-in boyfriend Gippal and his buddies Nooj and Baralai were the remaining guests, and they moved outside to the picnic bench at Gippal and Rikku's beach house on Bikanel Island.
"What'd you wish for when you blew out your candles?" Gippal asked her, taking another sip of his beer.
"Wouldn't you like to know, lover?" Rikku teased him as she sat in his lap. They had moved in together when she turned eighteen. He had been a hard one to pin down, but she had done it. It had been a personal triumph for her, but she was getting fed up about the constant competing with machina…machines she corrected herself, for his attention. She noticed Nooj going back into the house. "Hey! Get me another one of these!" Rikku lifted herself up above Gippal's head and waved her bottle so Nooj could see what she wanted, and her new position shoved her breasts into her boyfriend's face.
"You sure you need another one?" Gippal could tell she was getting seriously drunk. Then again, he couldn't remember how many beers he had drunk already either.
"I'm still sober enough to do anything!" Rikku insisted. "Here, I'll show you, I'll do some pole dancing!" She got up on the table and approached the umbrella stand, but she misjudged the height and ended up falling onto Baralai, who had been quietly sipping his scotch, watching the two of them. Rikku started laughing as she untangled herself from Baralai and tried again.
"Maybe I should handcuff you to it and then you'll be able to make it." Gippal suggested to her.
"Handcuffs?" Baralai perked up.
"Oh, is that how we're going to celebrate my birthday?" Rikku asked Gippal, walking over to his spot on the bench, dropping to all fours and kissing him before turning back to Baralai. "He only uses the handcuffs on those rare occasions when I've been very naughty. He just spanks me when I'm only a little naughty, don't you, lover?" Rikku wiggled her rear end which was now in front of Gippal, then saw Nooj come back with more drinks for everyone, and she eagerly held her hand out for a fresh bottle, opening it and taking another drink. "Are you going to give me my birthday spankings now?" she asked Gippal.
Gippal shrugged and put his beer down and gave Rikku her requested spankings, while she giggled and drank her bottle dry, spouting silly nonsense to Baralai, who was very intrigued by Rikku's confessions about how she and Gippal spiced up their sex life. As he drank more of his scotch, he got an idea.
"Why don't I show you my trophy room tomorrow? Think of it as another birthday present." Baralai suggested to Rikku.
"Trophy room? What's that?" Rikku wondered.
"It's where I could teach you what real kink is." he told her.
"Are we doing anything tomorrow, Gippal? Baralai wants to show me his trophy room." Rikku turned her head to look at her boyfriend, but he had passed out and his head was on the table. She frowned as she heard him starting to snore. "Fine, be that way. I guess I am availa…oh no!" Rikku exclaimed as she started throwing up all her drinks and birthday cake right in front of Baralai.
"I guess the party's over." Nooj said as Rikku finally stopped vomiting and started sobbing before passing out as well. "I'll carry him to their bed, you carry her." he told Baralai.
As Baralai laid Rikku next to Gippal in their bed, he regretted that she passed out before she fully agreed to see his trophy room. He hadn't been too steady on his feet himself while carrying her to her and Gippal's room, and his hands kept feeling too much of her. Now as she slightly turned in bed, her short shorts she always wore moved enough to give him a good view of her blushing cheeks from the birthday spankings Gippal had given her. He stared at the sight for a few moments before heading to his guest bedroom and throwing himself down on the bed.
Nooj had a very busy morning providing painkillers and water to his friends, then coffee. By noon Gippal, Rikku, and Baralai had made it to the living room, all looking worse for the wear over the previous night's excesses.
"Why do people drink?" Rikku quietly asked, hoping no one would raise their voice.
"To give their sensible friends some entertainment." Nooj replied. He had taken plenty of pictures to remember the drunken foolishness of his friends. Watching them was better than watching the programs put out by the emerging television industry.
"I think we should never talk about last night again." Gippal said.
"I can't even remember last night!" Rikku exclaimed.
"Then there's nothing to talk about, so it's no problem." Baralai smiled with relief. He remembered the previous night only vaguely, but it was enough to give him the most erotic dream he had ever had about a woman…the things he was doing to Rikku while she was begging for more in his trophy room…Baralai shook his head, and groaned as it brought his headache back. He deserved to feel like crap anyway, lusting after his best friend's wife! Well Gippal and Rikku might not be officially married, but they might as well be…